Single-shot optical probing of laser-generated plasmas

Lasers have captured scientific interest since their inception and increase in the on-target intensity has resulted in powerful petawatt (≈1015W) laser systems across the globe [1]. Such a laser gives the possibility to study and optimize processes such as electron [2] or ion [3] acceleration resulting from interaction of extreme electric fields (E ≥ 0.5 TV/m) with matter 0. In this talk, I would outline the current efforts of POLARIS (a Petawatt laser system) in Jena to study the effects of such laser-plasma interaction. A single-shot all optical probing was performed with Aluminum targets to fully characterize the plasma evolution. The basic motivation of the work, the experimental setup used and some results would be presented in the talk.